‘LOVE IS MY RELIGION’

One-time Hawaii resident Ziggy Marley is returning to the Islands to share his music and message of love - and hopefully get in a surf lesson or two. “I’ve tried Boogie boarding, but I’ve never tried surfing,” says the four-time Grammy

There’s a lot of his late, legendary father Bob in the music of Ziggy Marley

One-time Hawaii resident Ziggy Marley is returning to the Islands to share his music and message of love - and hopefully get in a surf lesson or two.

“I’ve tried Boogie boarding, but I’ve never tried surfing,” says the four-time Grammy Award-winner.“I need to try it, though. I was imagining myself doing it, so I need to get in there and get that done.”

The beaches in Hawaii are familiar territory to Ziggy,hence the song, Beach in Hawaii, which is track six on his latest CD release, Love Is My Religion. The song, written by Ziggy during one of his stays in Hawaii, validates his adoration for the Islands and his connection with the land.

“I love Hawaii, and it’s the nature that I’m talking about that inspires songs,” says Ziggy, which is a nickname his father gave him as a youngster playing football. “I don’t like the hotel vibe, I’m not a tourist. I don’t like that touristy vibe.”

While Ziggy prefers the less-industrialized islands like the Big Island and Maui, he’ll settle for greener parts of Oahu as the headliner for the Surf & Roots Fest tomorrow (Dec. 8) at Kualoa Ranch. Joining him on stage are Natural Vibrations, Ooklah the Moc, Go Jimmy Go, O-Shen, Irie Souls, Red Degree and more. The gates open at 9 a.m. and the concert ends at 6 p.m. Tickets start at $15, with V.I.P. options available for additional costs. Tickets are available at all Hawaiian Island Creations locations, UH Campus Center, or online at www.presaleticketsonline.com

At the concert, Ziggy says,“people can expect a consciousness, an awakening of their consciousness. People can expect to have their minds opened more.”

With a better understanding of self and humanity, Ziggy hopes to share his newfound sense of peace and love - the same dream envisioned by his late father, the legendary Bob Marley.

‘I’ve progressed as a person, my mind has opened up,’ says Ziggy

“I think I’ve progressed as a person, meaning that my mind has opened up more,” says Ziggy, co-founder of Ghetto Youths International, an organization dedicated to help young artists get a start in the music business. “I learned to understand more love and learned to love more. So me growing as a person directly affects my music and my lyrics. That’s where the change really happens. Musically, I’m everywhere. I’m forward, I’m backward, I’m all over the place when I want to be. So the music is the music. The progress is the person and what reflects in the song that the person writes, you know?”

As part of his break from everyday constraints, instead of following the record industry formula and signing a deal with a record label Ziggy independently produced his latest record, Love Is My Religion, which won Reggae Album of the Year at this year’s Grammy Awards. For distribution, Ziggy chose a less-traditional option and entered an agreement with the U.S. retailer Target to carry his album exclusively from the July 2006 release date for a year. This week, the album re-released worldwide with three bonus tracks and an independent distribution deal.

Commenting on his Grammy win for this album, Ziggy says, “I won three Grammys before this,but what made this one cool to me is the fact that the record is an independent record. It wasn’t any big label, it was just us. So it was kind of special. Everything is inde-